Everyone Else
by panicatthetumblr
Summary: The unthinkable happens when Cam falls into the moon pool, seemingly on purpose. Everyone is trying to adjust when, next month, someone new is transformed. Soon the mermaids begin to notice a pattern. Will they be able to stop the ensuing madness?
1. Prologue

**AN: Hey guys! So I did change my username, I was previously SammieNel.**

 **And while this is rated T, there may be some characters may be subject to using strong language.**

 **The idea for this story came to me a while ago, but I just haven't had time to type it up. This will be my first time writing with Mimmi and Ondina so let's see how they turn out, haha! Plus, this is happening after the END of season 2! Enjoy!**

This full moon changed everything. It was the start of something that nobody expected.

The moon rose, like normal.

The moon pool bubbled, like normal.

But the land person in the pool, was not normal.

It happened, the unthinkable.

* * *

Cameron Mitchell had practically forgotten that it was a full moon that night. He didn't need to bother worrying about it anymore, and now that Zac and Evie could handle full moons with no problem, he wasn't needed. In the past that would have bothered him, made him jealous even, but ever since he made peace with the idea that he didn't need a tail to make him happy he found that it was so much easier for him to enjoy the life that he had. And having Carly around was the thing that made him the happiest.

It was just another quiet night at the Mitchell household. Cam's parents were working late and his little sister was out on a date. It was a warm night in Queensland, Australia and there was a comfortable breeze that danced through the air. All the windows in Cam's house were open so that he could enjoy the night inside.

After finishing that last few problems in his calculus, Cam closed his binder and stowed it into his backpack. He moved himself over to the couch to get more comfortable and started to flick through social media on his phone.

For a moment everything happen like normal. And then that moment ended.

Cam felt a tingling in his finger tips that traveled throughout his body and continued to grow stronger. He turned off his phone and looked down at his hands in wonder. After coming to the conclusion that they had probably just fallen asleep, he cracked his knuckles and picked up his phone once more.

A small wind drifted in through the open window, making Cam lose interest in his phone entirely and I dropped down next to him without a second thought. The breeze had an enticing smell, like the salt sand and the sea. It made him want to get closer, he had to see it. Now.

Cam threw open the back door in his kitchen and was suddenly bathed in moonlight. He froze. This felt completely right, whatever was happening to him was definitely connected to the moon. With this new energy fueling him, Cam stalked across his yard and onto the dock that jutted out into the ocean.

He untied the ropes that hooked his small tinny to the dock, hopped inside, started the motor and steered into the open ocean. Cam was running completely on instinct now, but he knew that he was headed for Mako Island.

The sea was blissfully calm that night, and it was completely smooth sailing to the island. He swiftly beached his boat on the western shore and started his trek inland. Unexpectedly, nobody tried to stop him (not that he was even aware what he was doing) there was not a single mermaid or merman in sight. This should have calmed Cam but it only made him worry a bit more. A voice in the back of his mind kept him wondering if there was something dangerous happening.

Cam was trying to turn himself around when a warm, yellow, glow caught his eye. Looking up, Cam saw the familiar rock wall and cave opening that lead to the trident chamber. All thoughts of leaving the island escaped him, and Cam continued forward into the mouth of the narrow cave. He followed the winding and twisting tunnel until he reached the dead end.

The trident symbol radiated a soft golden light, it practically called out for Cam to touch it. And without thinking he slowly reached out his arm. A small voice in the back of Cam's voice was warning him of what the consequences, but it went completely ignored.

As soon as the flesh on his fingertips made contact with the cool stone, the ground beneath his shoes began to weaken. It felt like, for a moment, he was standing on Jell-O. Then the ground disappeared altogether and he was falling, it was so much like the last time he tried to fall into the moon pool. Only this time, nobody stopping him.

He fell cleanly into the pool with a large splash. And without a moment to catch his breath, the full moon passed over the cone of the volcano causing the moon pool to froth and bubble around Cam. Letting him be immerse in the magic.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: I'm going to try and update this once a week, just so you guys know.**

 **While this story is rated T, some characters are prone to use strong language.**

Bright sunlight was blaring down on Cam, he slowly blinked the haze from his eyes and sat up. He was in bedroom, but he didn't seem to remember how he'd gotten there. The last thing that he could remember was sitting down on the couch last night after that everything grew fuzzy.

The smell of freshly cooked bacon and eggs wafted through the air, Cam's stomach gave an expectant growl so he reluctantly climbed out of bed. He took a step and suddenly pitched forward, landing on his hands and knees. Confused, he climbed to his feet once more and took a hesitant step. They felt completely normal, he mentally scolded himself for being so clumsy before.

As Cam stumbled into the kitchen and sat down in a stool at the counter his mother placed a plate of steaming bacon and eggs. "Good morning Cameron!" his mother said brightly, "We didn't hear you come in last night."

Cam blinked, from what he could remember he never went out of the house last night, "Mom, I never left."

She raised a quizzical eyebrow, "Really? Because when your father and I got home at nine thirty, you weren't anywhere in the house."

From across the kitchen, his litter sister, Julia, smirked into her breakfast. She tried her hardest not to show her amusement of her brother being punished and she wasn't doing the best job. Cam glared at her from the corner of his eye.

After refocusing himself on his mother once more, Cam repeated. "Mom, I did not remember leaving the house last night."

His mother narrowed her eyes, "Cameron, if you were drunk last night I swear to god that you will be grounded until you turn eighteen." Julia snickered in the background.

"NO! No no no no! Mom, I wasn't drunk last night. I didn't see anybody and I swear that I never left the house." Cam exclaimed, trying desperately to dig himself out of the metaphorical hole that he had somehow fallen into.

His mother gave him a stern look and then glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, "Oh, shit," she muttered, "I'm going to be late for work." She then hurried to the table where her purse and keys were resting. "I'll see you both later, love you," she began to walk out the front door when she must have realized that she forgot to say something because she turned around once more and said, "Oh and Cameron, we'll talk more about this when I get home." And with that, she left, slamming the front door behind her.

Silence filled the house as Cam began to wonder about what did happen to him last night. He couldn't seem to remember anything after sitting on the couch and he kept wondering how he could get that message across to his mother, was it possible that he could have fallen asleep there and his parents didn't see him. It didn't seem very likely, the front door faced the living room and they'd practically have to be ignoring him to not see him.

Julia stood up and moved her plate into the sink, and filled it with water. For some reason the sound drew him, he lifted his eyes from his plate of food and focused on the faucet. Then suddenly it turned off completely. Cam jumped back in disbelief, that wasn't normal. "What is wrong with you?" his sister whined. He then noticed her hand on the knob which controlled the outflow of water, and for the second time that morning, Cam scolded himself so being so jumpy.

"What? Oh, nothing," he responded quietly.

Julia squinted at him, "You _were_ drunk last night! Weren't you?!"

Cam sighed, "No! I wasn't." His sister scoffed in disbelief. Not wanting to be in her presence anymore, he hastily finished his breakfast and started to head towards the stairs. "I'm going to take a shower." He announced to his sister and quickly hurried to the upstairs bathroom. He quickly grabbed a fresh pair of shorts and a shirt from his bedroom and walked down the hall and entered the bathroom. After closing the door behind him, Cam turned on the water and quickly whipped off his clothes. He stepped in so rapidly that the water didn't have time to warm up and it was still slightly chilly. Cam didn't care, he just time to be alone to think.

He didn't get that long. He got ten seconds, to be exact.

Suddenly a tremor swept over Cam's body and he lost his balance and toppled over onto the fiberglass bottom of the bathtub. Cam twisted around to see what caused the problem, and that's when he began to scream.

* * *

A tail. That's what caused him to fall over. Cameron Mitchell now had a tail.

A knock at the door startled him, and suddenly Cam twisted the knob in the shower so that the water turned off. "Cam," Julia sounded exasperated, "You okay? I heard you screaming."

"Y-yeah," He replied unconvincingly, if she came in here and saw him like this it would probably be the end of the world, "I'm fine." He said gaining a bit more confidence. He couldn't blow his secret only seconds after discovering it himself.

He heard retreating footsteps from the other side of the door and once again he was alone. Cam took a moment to collect himself, he inspected the appendage that now took place of his legs. Right below his naval, his pale skin melted seamlessly into dark blue and black speckled scales. A small dorsal fin ran from the tip of his tailbone to about his mid calf. His wide fin spread out where his feet should have been. His tail looked practically identical to Zac's, except for the fact that Cam's was a few shades of a darker blue.

Cam couldn't breathe. This was all too much for him! He was a fish, just like the others. Now he was different than everybody, his parents, sister, some of his friends and most importantly Carly. His stomach churned, this could't be happening. He had to stop thinking about everything, he could tell that he was on the verge of having a panic attack. He just focused on getting his breathing even.

After taking a minute to examine his new extension and calming himself down, Cam began to pull himself from the bathtub. He had to hand it to Zac for lugging this stupid thing around for almost year now, his tail was really heavy and it took him about ten minutes and a whole lot of upper body strength to get him out of the tub. After he was finally successful, Cam sat himself up and began to run a towel vigorsselly up and down his tail until there was no more water left on his body.

Once again the tingling feeling returned to the bottom half of his body and Cam watched in awe as his tail shrunk and separated, leaving two very human looking legs in its place. Gradually he began to stand up on his reformed legs, he expected them to be shaky and not be able to hold his weight, but surprisingly enough, they stood as strong as ever.

Cam picked up the change of clothes that he had brought into the bathroom with him. He hurriedly pulled the shirt over his head and zipped up his shorts. He left the bathroom and took off down the stairs. As he approached the front door he hastily called out to his sister, "I'm going out."

Her response came from back upstairs, "Um, okay?" He'd definitely need to come up with an excuse for his weird behavior for her.

Cam didn't need anymore of a reply from her, he stepped over the threshold, slammed the door behind him and began to jog down the street. He couldn't believe it, he didn't know whether to be terrified or excited. At the moment, he was leaning more towards terrified. Suddenly, everything began to make sense. He thought back to the night that Zac had first transformed, the next morning he had suffered from memory loss as well. How he was going to end up explaining this to his mother, he had no idea. With more thought on the subject, he realized that this was his life now, lying to everyone. He could not tell anybody, especially Carly.

He almost trembled at the thought of Carly finding out, she specifically told him that he did not want him to have powers and if she found out now, then he'd most likely be dumped. And if Zac or the girls ever found out, then they'd, of course, never trust him again but it wasn't like he remembered planning on doing this to himself. He most definitely couldn't let anybody find about about his tail, at least not just yet.

Cam walked until his feet were sore and his throat was parched, so he made his way to the Ocean Cafe. As he walked through the front door he tried to hide his paranoia, he never noticed that water was literally everywhere. Maybe he just wasn't ready to face the public just yet, he turned to leave but "Hey stranger!" said a voice from behind him. He whirled around and came face to face with his girlfriend Carly, she smiled and planted a small kiss on his lips.

Cam forced a smile as best as he could, it probably came out more like a grimace, "Hi, Babe."

"I need to get back to work, but I made you this." She handed him a glass with his favorite juice in it (tropical punch) and gave him a small wave before returning behind the front counter with David. He was lucky that she didn't notice that he wasn't acting like is normal self.

Cam scanned the crowd of busy patrons until he found Zac sitting at a table by himself. Before he could convince himself that it was a bad idea, Cam weaved his way in and out of the crowd of customers making his way over to Zac's table. As he approached, Zac looked up from his phone and smiled at him. Cam sat down in the seat across the table. "How's everything?"

"Oh, fine. Fine." Cam tried his hardest to sound casual, "How did everything go last night?"

"It was a completely uneventful evening. Evie's getting really good at fighting the full moon and of course you know that I'm an expert." Zac said with a laugh, taking a careful sip of his drink.

They exchanged small talk for a couple of minutes but were both silenced when a waitress tripped while walking past their table and sent drinks flying through the air. Unfortunately, that left Cam and Zac completely drenched in sticky juice. For a moment, Cam was about to laugh it off when he remembered the new changes that he was undergoing.

Realizing that Zac was already out of sight, Cam sprinted to the cool room and banged on the locked door. "Zac, open the door," Cam insisted.

"Cam, just guard. I'll be out in a minute." Came Zac's response from the other side of the door. If he didn't open the door in the next five seconds it was game over, he would be completely exposed.

"Zac! Let me in right now!" Cam demanded.

Hearing the urgency in his voice, Zac obliged and only opened the door wide enough for Cam to squeeze through. Zac began to ask, "What's so imp-" but he never got to finish his sentence because they both collapsed to the floor all in their fishy glory.

Zac started to dry himself but then noticed Cam on the floor next to him, now shirtless as well, and Zacy asked, "Cam, what the hell is going on with you today..." his voice faded as Zac's eyes traveled to the lower part of Cam and they rested on where his legs should have been. And Zac's mouth fell wide open, Cam cringed.

"Cam. You're a- a... Well you have a..." Zac stuttered, after finally regaining his voice he burst out with, "You're a merman!"

Cam sighed, "Yes, I know." He really sucked at this whole secret keeping thing.

* * *

After his initial shock wore off, Zac's expression turned cold and stern. "You did this to yourself last night." It was more of an accusation than a question. They were still laying out with their tails on the cold tile of the cool room floor.

"Yes, I assume so," Cam said quietly, he averted his eyes from Zac's.

"You _assume_?! How the hell could you not remember doing something like this!?" Zac yelled at him, his voice growing with intensity and volume with each word.

"I don't remember doing this! I don't even remember leaving the house last night! I didn't want to be like this!" Cam roared back, the thought crossed his mind that someone might be able to hear them but at the moment Cam was to overcome with fury.

"I seem to recall you being very keen on acquiring a tail a few months ago," Zac retorted. "Why did you change your mind?"

"Carly," Cam stated, "She wouldn't want to date a fish. She told me herself. Now look at me," Cam gestured to his tail, "We'll be broken up in less than a week."

Zac's expression softened a bit, "Then we won't let her find out. We won't let anybody find out. It'll be okay." Zac had barely been able to finish his sentence when the door of the cool room was tugged open. Zac didn't even have time to make himself invisible, not the it mattered, it was David who opened it. He was still fairly new to the whole mermaid secret and wasn't completely used to it yet.

Sirena had done her best to explain everything, who had a tail (Zac and Erik were a big shock to him), how powers worked, the moon pool and the pod. David took it all really well, but he just sometimes couldn't help getting a little over excited.

"Okay, I'll need your help in a minute Carly." David called out. He turned to enter the cool room and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of two mermen laying on the floor. His jaw dropped to the floor. "C-cam?" He stuttered. "You're a merman too."

Cam sighed and nodded. His tally was up to two people who already knew within the first twenty-four hours of his transformation. This had to be some kind of merman record.

"But how-," David was cut off.

"David, do you still need my help back there?" Carly called from out in the restaurant.

Cam's eyes widened in fear and he vigorously shook his head, "Do not let her see me!" he whispered urgently to David. He nodded and went to distract Carly so that she wouldn't come into the back.

As quickly as he could, Zac dried the both of them off and their legs and clothes returned. They both walked out of the cool room as nonchalantly as possible and tried to escape from the cafe. As they walked along the pier Cam slowly tried to separate himself from Zac, but he grabbed Cam's arm, forcing him to follow. "You're not going anywhere. We need to talk." Zac said sternly.

Then Zac got out his phone and sent a quick text to David, telling him to meet them at Zac's house after his shift and not to tell anybody about Cam. After Zac received a confirmation text from David, he put his phone back into his pocket.

The two of them completed the walk to Zac's house, both dreading the talk that was about to come.


	3. Chapter 2

**So much for updating once a week... sorry guys! :P**

Zac practically shoved Cam inside his room, "Sit." he commanded. Cam obeyed.

Zac began to pace back and forth in his room, Cam's eyes traveled with him. "Well, say something!" Cam finally burst out, not being able to stand the silence any longer.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?" Zac yelled at him suddenly.

Cam took a deep breath and said calmly, "Like I told you before, I don't remember anything that happened las night. If you don't want to believe me then fine, but it's the truth."

Zac's expression softened and he sat down across from Cam on the opposite couch, "You really didn't want to be like this."

Cam shook his head and said sadly, "Being a merman is the last thing that I want."

The two mermen were silent for a moment when suddenly David burst through the front door, gasping for breath as he sat down next to Cam. "I ran from the cafe as soon as I could." he panted. "Don't worry, I was careful. Carly was wondering where you went so quickly."

Cam took a deep breath and calmly asked, "And what did you tell her?"

"I said that I didn't know and that I would go and find out. That's when I left." David finished.

"Oh no," Cam said jumping up. He crossed the room and looked out the window, "She's going to come looking for me." The other two boys joined Cam at the window and they were greeted with the sight of Carly marching across the Blakely's lawn.

"Just stay calm and act normal you'll be fine," Zac instructed. Cam nodded and took a deep breath. A sharp rapping came from the other side of Zac's closed door.

"Cam?" Carly called from the other side of the door, "Are you here?"

Cam stepped forward and opened the door a crack, only letting himself be seen. He forced a strained smile onto his face and shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as he waited for his girlfriend to speak. "Hey, I wanted to make sure you were okay. Zac and you left the cafe in such a rush. And you weren't really acting like yourself either." she said.

"Yeah I'm fine. Zac just remembered that he had some ... homework to finish up. And I came back to help him." Cam lied.

"Homework?" Carly raised an eyebrow, she knew that Cam barely did his own homework let alone help someone else on theirs.

"Mmhmm," Cam replied unconvincingly.

Carly sighed, "Fine, but there's something that you're not telling me," she reached down and took his hand, "I thought that we didn't have secrets from each other. Ever since I found out about the whole mermaid thing, there hasn't bee any reason to keep anything from me," Carly paused waiting for Cam's response, "Right?"

"Yeah, well, there's nothing that I'm hiding from you," He gulped.

She shook her head, "Okay. I need to get back to the cafe my break will be over soon." Carly get Cam a quick kiss on the cheek and then turned away, leaving him alone standing in the doorway.

Cam wasn't sure how much longer he could lie like this. He was started to understand Zac's point of view and admired how he could handle the pressure of constantly keeping this secret. A secret that, he had to remind himself, was now his own.

"Cam?" Zac's voice slowly drew him back from his thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" He said looking up.

"I said, I think we need to tell Rita. She'll have some way to protect you." Zac said.

Cam vigorously shook his head, "No no no. It's already bad enough that you and David know. We don't to go and tell more people. This could get out of hand, like what if after we tell Rita she tells the other fish chicks and they tell Carly!" Cam's voice was growing with intensity and alarm with each word.

"She might know some way to reverse it." Zac said calmly.

"She won't," Cam said matter-of-factly, "She and the other girls weren't able to take away your powers."

"That's because I'm a real merman, you were changed into one. This might be a totally different circumstance."

Slowly, Cam nodded his head, "Fine. It's worth a shot."

David, who sat silently during the entire exchange, finally spoke up, "I'll come too. For moral support."

The mermen looked at him skeptically. "What?" David put up his hands in defense, "I'm still really curious about this stuff."

Zac chuckled, "Okay, sure come along. Plus he hasn't seen the grotto yet."

David's eyes widened, "What's the grotto?"

 **Sorry, for the short chapter! I wanted to get this out as soon as possible. And I'm also sorry for not updating since October... it's been really busy for me. I promise I'll try and post more often. Just stay patient!**

 **Love you guys!:)**


	4. Chapter 3

"Hold your moon ring out in front of you and focus on connecting your energy with the fish in the bowl." Rita instructed. She was in the middle of teaching a lesson to Sirena, Mimmi and Ondina. Today's topic was reading the minds of fish and being able to communicate telepathically with them.

Mimmi did as Rita instructed and felt her energy reach out toward the goldfish in the bowl a few meters in front of her. Sirena watched intently while Ondina just sat there with a bored expression on her face.

"This is stupid!" Ondina huffed, "Why would we even need to talk to fish? It's not like they have anything interesting to say."

Mimmi sighed and let her arm drop, concentration now lost.

Rita turned to face Ondina and said matter-of-factly, "Well, if you were in trouble and needed a quick get away, a quick chat with a pod of dolphins might save your tail. Or if you come across a sea turtle that was trapped in a fishing net then you might be there to help him stay calm while you cut the net. Or-"

"Okay, okay. I get it." Ondina sighed.

"Why don't you try again, Mimmi," Rita encouraged.

Mimmi lifted her arm, but they were once again interrupted by the sound of the doorbell coming from upstairs. "You girls keep working. I'll go and see who that is." Rita said as she hurried off to answer the door. She descended the stairs that lead to her front door, after she opened it Rita was greeted with the sight of three teenage boys standing on her doorstep.

Rita smiled warmly at him, "Zac, Cameron, David. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

David peered behind Rita eagerly, hoping to catch a glimpse of Sirena inside the house. Cam silently stood in the background unable to meet Rita's gaze. Zac was the one who spoke up, "Rita, we need to discuss something with you." Then quietly added, "In private."

Rita's cheery attitude was quickly replaced with a grim look, "Come with me." She opened the door wider as to let in the boys and then closed the door behind them. Zac lead the way to the bookcase which held the secret entrance to the grotto. Rita pulled the decoy book on the shelf and opened the hidden door. David's jaw dropped as Rita lead them down into the underground cavern.

Sirena's eyes lit up as she saw David enter the grotto after Rita, Zac and Cam. She rushed over to him and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I didn't expect to see you here," she said excitedly.

But before he could respond Rita spoke up, "I'm afraid that I'll have to cut this lesson a bit short. The boys and I have some important matters to discuss."

"Whatever they need to say, they can say in front of us." Ondina said annoyingly.

Mimmi looked over at her brother, "Zac, is everything alright?"

Zac nodded reassuringly, "Yeah, everything's fine. We just need to talk to Rita about some school stuff. Nothing that you guys would be interested in." He lied. Rita, was not only the mentor for the younger mermaids, but she was also the principal of the local high school.

"Why don't you girls go out for a swim and we'll finish the lesson later." Rita said, it seemed like more of a demand than a request. Reluctantly, the three young mermaids all left the grotto and disappeared through the pool that connects to the ocean. She motioned for the boys to join her siting on the couch that was carved into the rock. Zac and Cam sat down immediately, but it took David a few seconds because he was so in awe and engrossed with the items in the room.

"Now," Rita began after they were all settled, "I suspect that you three did not come here to discuss school work." The three boys nodded silently, all not wanting to be the first to speak. "Why don't you tell me what this is all about."

"Well, for once, it's not actually about me," Zac said, "It's about Cam."

Rita's gaze shifted to the blond boy standing in the background, her breath hitched. "Last night was a full moon..." She said quietly.

Cam's stomach churned as he saw the realization hit Rita. Cam decided to speak up for the first time since entering Rita's home, "I didn't mean for it to happen I swear!" He said defensively. "I don't even remember anything from last night."

"And how did you find out about this?" Rita directed her question to David, she ignored Cam's pleas. From her personal experience she knew that the pull of the full moon was strong and she almost couldn't blame Cam for being affected by it.

David opened his mouth to respond but Cam's answer came first. He explained how he didn't plan on telling anybody because he knew it would be too hard for anybody to trust him again. But how at the cafe Zac and Cam were splashed and that was how Zac found out and then David came across them laying out in the cool room.

Rita nodded staying oddly calm during this whole ordeal, "It looks like you'll be needing some practice avoiding water, Cameron, as well as using your powers. But in time you'll grow to get used to this lifestyle."

"That's actually why we came to you." Zac interjected, "We were wondering if this was reversible. Like the spell that my birth mother used on me to hide my tail. Can we do the same thing for Cam?"

Rite solemnly shook her head, "The spell that your mother preformed on you, Zac, was very ancient complicated magic. It would be almost impossible to replicate, if I could even get my hands on it."

Cam's heart sunk into his stomach, _I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up,_ he thought to himself.

"Cameron, I'm sorry to say, I'm afraid that you're stuck like this."

 **Heyyyy, look at this! I stuck to my promise, more than one upload in a day. That's a new personal record!**


	5. Chapter 4

Cam nodded. He knew, deep in the back of his mind, from the start that he was now a merman permanently. This only confirmed his suspicions.

"I'm terribly sorry, Cameron. I'm sure that Carly will understand after you tell her the truth. Now, why don't you go join the others out in the ocean, I trust that you haven't been able to take your new tail out for a spin yet." Rita suggested, trying her best to lift Cam's spirits.

Cam stood up, "Sorry, but I wouldn't like for word about my transformation to get out," then he quickly added, "Just yet."

"I understand. I'll keep this to myself for the time being." Rita assured him.

"Good, now I'd better be going. It's getting late and I'm sure my parents want to yell at me about being missing last night," Cam backed out of the grotto with David and Zac not far behind. Once they were gone Rita was able to take the smile off of her face and let her worry show.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ondina Mimmi and Sirena had been summoned by the mermaid council in the waters outside of Mako Island.

"There was a disturbance in our ceremony last night," Veridia said to the three mermaids. They looked at each other in confusion as Veridia continued, "I want you to gather the merman and his land girl companion. Bring them here, we're all going to have a little chat."

The three hurried off to shore, wondering what had happened the night before. As the sun fell below horizon the girls had rounded their way into Zac's cove. They located his dock, pulled themselves up and dried off making their way to the door of Zac's bungalow.

Without any hesitation Ondina burst through the door without bothering to knock. The sight wasn't very pretty, the two were both sprawled across the couch, Evie was straddled across Zac's lap, their lips locked together, Zac's shirt was off and Evie was left in her bra. "Ugh! Gross! Put some shirts on!" She exclaimed as she saw Zac and Evie hastily push away from each other. Mimmi and Sirena looked down at their shoes, embarrassed.

As Zac and Evie pulled their shirts over their heads, Ondina spoke again, "Ew, I really didn't need to see that."

"I didn't invite you in. Nor did you even bother to knock." Zac shot back.

"The mermaid council wants to speak with the two of you." Mimmi said before Ondina could get another word out.

"Us?" Evie asked in confusion, "What happened? Did we do something wrong?"

"We really don't know," Sirena admitted, "But you should come with us."

The five of them jogged toward the dock and, all at once, gracefully dove into the ocean. By the time they reached the pod darkness had fallen, the waxing moon shined overhead. They approached Veridia with caution.

Zac cleared his throat, "You wished to speak with us, Veridia."

She took her time answering them, taking a moment to look at each merperson before answering, "Yes, I did." She paused, "It seems that there was some sort of disturbance at Mako last night. A disturbance that we haven't felt since the night that you regained your powers, Zac."

Zac fidgeted in the water uncomfortably.

"Is there anything you know about this, Zac?"

"No," he replied unconvincingly.

Veridia grew more stern, her voice now tight with anger, "I'll ask you again, what happened on Mako last night?"

Evie spoke up for him, "Veridia, Zac didn't do anything on Mako, he was with me all last night."

"No, you've misunderstood, dear. I'm not saying that Zac was on Mako. A little fishy just told me that he might know something about the happenings on Mako last night," Veridia accused.

"What?! No! Of course not!" Zac stammered. "I'm on your side."

Veridia was livid. With no more evidence against Zac, she dismissed him and Evie.

"I want you girls to do some investigating for me. Everyone is a suspect, trust no one. Test everyone." Veridia addressed Mimmi, Ondina and Sirena. She handed each of them a crystalline blue necklace, the charm was the same stone that was inside of their moon rings. "These have been enchanted to glow whenever they're in the presence of a merperson."

"Like the trident stone?" Sirena wondered aloud.

Veridia nodded, "Yes, but on a much smaller scale and a lot less dangerous."

"If we're wearing them, won't they be glowing all the time since we're mermaids?" Mimmi asked.

"Like I said, they're enchanted. They'll choose to ignore the wearer's magic," Veridia explained. She glanced up at the moon, "Now go and get some rest. You three have a busy day ahead of you."

 **Sorry about the short chapter, I just wanted to get this out before the weekend!**


	6. Chapter 5

**This chapter is dedicated to ClockWiseWiss, may she rest in peace. I will miss her wonderful stories!**

Cam's eyes slowly fluttered open and he rolled over in his bed, relaxed for a moment. When the previous day's events came flooding back to him. His transformation, Zac and David finding out, visiting Rita, and to top it all off a lecture from his parents about underage drinking. Not one of his best days.

Cam glanced at his clock on the bedside table, it read 7:00. He would have just enough time to shower, get ready and grab a bite at the café before heading to school. His feet found the carpet and he stretched until his back gave a satisfying pop. Making his way into the bathroom, Cam turned the shower nozzle and almost stepped in but quickly withdrew his foot.

 _Damn,_ Cam thought to himself, _This is going to be harder than usual._

He turned off the water and plugged the tub. And then, once again, turned the water back on. After it was full to the brim, he turn the faucet to the right and stopped the outflow of water. Cam took off his pajamas and underwear and stepped into the steaming water. A few seconds later his tail took place of his legs, which stuck out of the tub at an uncomfortable and awkward angle. Doing the best that he could manage, Cam dipped his head below the water and scrubbed shampoo and conditioner into his hair.

Lifting the plug for the tub, the water drained out. Cam pat his tail dry with a towel, which was a lot faster going than yesterday. It almost scared him that being a merman was coming easier to him. He stood up in the tub, got himself dressed, and rushed down the stairs.

"Come straight home after school ends," his mother said to him, "Remember you're still grounded."

Cam let out a groan, but he nodded and grabbed his backpack. After leaving the house, he hurried down the street and made his way to the cafe. Upon entering Cam spotted Zac in a booth by the counter. Sirena and the other two fish chicks were huddled around the counter and David was trying to worm his way into the conversation, just trying to be closer to Sirena. Carly was taking the early morning shift and Evie was grabbed her and Zac's juices for the morning.

Cam made his way over to Zac's table. "Well, showering was harder than usual this morning," he said in greeting.

"Why would showering be difficult?" A voice from behind him said. He turned to see Evie raising a curious eyebrow at him.

"Be-b-because, Julia used up all the hot water before I could shower." Cam stammered.

"Uh-huh," Evie nodded disbelievingly. She sat down in the empty chair at their table and started chattering mindlessly with the two boys. David soon came over and joined them so they were all sitting down and eating breakfast together.

"Did you finish the calculus homework?" David asked the group.

Cam scoffed, "Barely."

Zac checked his watch, "Guys, we'd better be heading over to school or else we'll be late."

The group stood up and began to gather their things. Sirena walked over to the table and gave David a kiss goodbye, and they started to make plans for later that afternoon when the necklace that hung around Sirena's neck began to glow.

Everyone froze.

"Mimmi," Sirena called out in a shaky voice. Mimmi and Ondina walked over. Cam's heart began hammering in his chest.

"David?" Sirena asked quietly.

David looked confused, "Sirena?"

"Evie?" Mimmi asked, "what's going on?"

Evie shrugged and looked across the table, "Zac?"

Zac cleared his throat, "Cam."

"Can we just stop playing the name game?" Cam burst out.

Ondina looked over at him and narrowed her eyes, "You. We need to talk." She grabbed him by the hook of his elbow and lead him out of the cafe, the gem on her necklace still glowing brightly. Evie, Zac, David, Mimmi and Sirena were following closely behind them.

Cam struggled against Ondina's surprisingly strong grip but was unable to free himself from her grasp. She lead him down to the pier in front of the cafe and released her grip momentarily before giving him an earnest shove and sending him tumbling into the ocean.

"What do you think you're doing?" Evie shouted angrily at Ondina.

But her question was left unanswered, when the group of six watched after Cam disappeared below the surface that the ocean water began to froth and bubble. "No way," Evie whispered under her breath.

Cam emerged from the depths, gasping for breath. His glimmering blue tail stretched out behind him. He threw a stone cold look to Ondina, "Happy now?"

"Not one bit." She snarled back. "Here's what is going to happen: you are going to come with me to the pod without protest, there Veridia will hopefully start her plans for your execution."

"Execution?!" Evie and Zac simultaneously exclaimed.

"Well, it hasn't been confirmed yet. But if you want to kill a plant you have to cut it at the root, correct? If the pod just takes away his powers then he'll just return to the merman chamber next full moon." Ondina elaborated.

"What!? You can't be serious?" Sirena piped up.

"This is absolutely ridiculous, I don't even want my powers. I never chose to get them in the first place," said Cam who was now filled with fury. How could they talk about ending his life as if it were like pulling a mere weed from a garden. Apparently, that's all that he was to Ondina. A nuisance.

"There is no way to know that we can trust you." Ondina stated matter-of-factly.

"Wait a minute, I have protected you guys countless times from getting exposed AND I gave you guys the trident stone even when Erik offered to help me gain a tail." Cam countered.

"And before that, you stole the trident and tried to destroy the moon pool."

Cam opened his mouth to retort but Ondina cut him off once again. "This matter isn't open for discussion." She held out her hand and let her moon ring envelope Cam in a blue light. Cam found himself completely paralyzed in his spot in the water below the docks. The only thing that he was able to move were his eyes. Ondina dove gracefully into the water beside where Cam floated, completely frozen in the waves. He tried to struggle free from his magical bind but he couldn't so much as twitch a finger.

"I'm taking him to the mermaid council where they will decide his fate. And no one try to stop me." Ondina growled, she narrowed her eyes at Zac and Evie who looked on helplessly.

Ondina pitched under the surface as Cam was dragged behind her against his will.


	7. Chapter 6

**I'm going to try and add in some of our new season 3/4 characters! Enjoy!**

Cameron was wild with fear. His eyes darted in every direction as he was dragged in the water behind Ondina. Harsh water bombarded his face as Ondina dared to see just how fast she could swim. This wasn't exactly how he imagined his first time in the ocean as a merman would go.

"Stop, please!" Cam choked out. But Ondina spared him no mercy. They began to slow down only when Mako came into view. Golden and orange tails filled the water surrounding them.

"I've found the land boy." He heard Ondina say proudly.

"Very good," An unknown voice said. "Take him into holding." And suddenly hands grabbed his arms and thrust him forward once again. Unable to struggle against the magic that held him in place, Cam was lead through an underwater cavern that lead to individual holding cells. As far as Cam could see every cell was empty, except for the last cell at the end of the row. He couldn't see who it belonged to but it gave him some sense of familiarity.

Before he could struggle, the magic that bound Cam was released and the door to the cell was locked behind him. The mermaids that escorted him into the prison left without saying a word.

Cam stretched out to the tip of his tail, thankful for finally being able to move for himself.

He explored the cell a bit and found that it was only half submerged in the water, which probably meant that the air was meant for the guards to speak to the prisoners. There was a small island in the back right corner of the cell, which was just large enough to dry off on. The walls and bars were made of a rough coral and upon closer examination of the lock he found a small circle where the key would go which, Cam realized, was the perfect size for a moon ring.

Cam swam to the surface and tried to calm his nerves. How did it suddenly escalate to this? First he was worried about keeping his secret and now his life is on the line. He felt a tear trickle out of his eye. He couldn't even bring himself to think about his family. How would they react to his disappearance? Would Zac and Evie cover for him? Then his heart sank into stomach when he thought of Carly, how would this be explained?

He silently vowed to himself that if he got out of this alive, that the first thing he would do was confess the whole situation to Carly.

Eventually his breathing slowed and he leaned back on the small island in the back corner.

"Some life we have, huh?" Came a familiar male voice from outside of Cam's cell.

The voice had startled him to jumping down from where he sat half submerged in the water, Cam swam along the surface of the water and gripped the bars of the cell. "Hello?" he called out. Looking across the aisle Cam saw another merman that had his back to him.

"How did you get so lucky as to get yourself in here?" said the other merman in a very sarcastic tone.

Cam scoffed, "I existed."

The merman turned around and Cam looked into the face of his old ally, Erik. Cam gasped in surprise at the sight of the traitor. Erik didn't look at all shocked to see Cam with a tail, only amused. "Well, you got what you wanted, now didn't you?"

Cam shook his head and gesturing to his surroundings, "This isn't what I wanted."

"Well, but you'd better used to it, Fishboy. You're stuck here now."

* * *

"Ondina, I'm very proud of your loyalty to the pod," Verida said to the blonde mermaid.

Ondina soaked up all the glory that was being given to her, she was wearing a bright gloating smile. "Of course, I always do what's best for the pod."

"Yes, I know. That's was why I chose you to complete this next task," Veridia explained as Ondina looked on eagerly, "I would like to introduce you to the newest addition to our pod."

She waved a small Asian mermaid forward. "Hi," she said quietly.

"Ondina, I'd like to introduce you to Weilan, she just transferred here from Shanghai, I figured that since you are staying on land with Rita she will feel more comfortable with you."

The smile that Ondina wore seconds ago disappeared from her face. "You want my to... babysit?" She said with disgust written all over her face.

"No, I want you to protect her." Veridia corrected.

Ondina scoffed, "She looks like she can take care of herself just fine."

"This isn't about her, this is about you listening to my orders." Veridia said firmly.

"Actually," piped up Weilan, "This is about protecting not only the pod, but also the land people that live on the coast. There is a threat, a water dragon, on a mission and it won't stop until its mission is complete." Ondina looked at the new mermaid in fear, this is the first she'd heard of a water dragon let alone one that preyed on land people.

"I don't understand." Ondina replied, "What do land people have to do with this?"

"The dragon's power has already been felt by one land person, and next month there may be more. I doubt you want that kind of attention."

"Attracted attention, how?"

"Well, land people that have had the most experience with magic would draw the water dragon to them, making them their first target." Weilan finished.

Ondina's eyes widened in realization.

Cam.

 **Sorry, that this chapter was shorter than others. As you may or may not have figured out, the main goal of the water dragon (in my story) is very different than that of the show. You will definitely be finding out more in the chapters to come. Leave me a review and let me know what you think. Also, if you have any suggestions as to what you want to happen next send me a PM! (I love getting them!)**


	8. Chapter 7

**Wow! I can't believe it has been over a year since I updated this! I started rewatching Mako and was struck with inspiration. I'm so sorry for the long wait but I do hope that this chapter was worth it! More to come soon! Enjoy!**

Evie paced back and forth uselessly on the jetty behind her boyfriend's house. Zac sat on the edge of the wooden planks staring down into the blue water below. "We should have gone after him," Evie said, not for the first time.

Zac continued staring down at his shoes. He was already mourning the loss of his best friend. No more than two days ago, Cam was just a regular land boy. In the span of just a few hours, he became a merman and was sentenced to execution by the mermaid council. He shook his head and nervously twisted the moon ring around his index finger. Shortly after Evie received her ring, the council approached him having made him a custom moon ring for mermen. His still had the signature moon stone but the silver band was thicker and manlier.

He'd trade it in a heartbeat for Cam's life.

The others had hastily gone back to Rita's grotto to see if she had any wisdom to offer the group. Zac and Evie went back to his house to gather supplies if an attack was needed and were waiting for word from the others to move in. They hastily threw together and attack plan before splitting up but with three mermaids and one merman their odds seemed fairly slim.

"I can't take it anymore," Evie said pulling out her phone from the back pocket of her jean shorts. She dialed Sirena's number and was about to press the green call button, when there was a splash in the water beneath the jetty. Two mermaids surfaced, the first was Ondina and the other was a mermaid that they had never seen before.

Zac's eyes hardened the second that he saw them, "I hope that you're satisfied."

"No!" Ondina rushed out, looking briefly panicked, "It wasn't Cam's fault at all, Weilan, here, told me what really caused his transformation. Cam never really wanted to become a merman."

Zac rolled his eyes at the blonde mermaid, "Yeah, thanks for taking that long to figure it out. Where is Cam now anyway?" Now that they had realized Cam's transformation had in fact been a misunderstanding, they should set him free to go.

Ondina looked down at her tail swishing back and forth in the water below, "That's the thing. Veridia and the council won't see reason. We'll need to break him out."

Evie took a step toward Zac and without hesitation replied, "Then let's go." She sent a text to Sirena telling her and Mimmi to meet them out on the reef immediately. Then both Evie and Zac gracefully dove off the dock into the rippling ocean below. Despite the pressing emergency of saving Cam in time, it was hard for them not to enjoy the feeling as their transformations overtook them. It was like stretching your legs after being seated for a long time, like inside their legs they were too cramped up and now they finally had a chance to let loose.

When they resurfaced, Weilan seemed to be in awe and staring down at Zac's tail. It occurred to him that this was the first time she had been this close to a merman. She noticed that he caught her staring and managed to tear her eyes away.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ondina asked impatiently. They ducked under the surface of the water and sped out to the reef. They caught up with Sirena and Mimmi and all six merpeople resurfaced.

"Okay, Weilan, Mimmi, Sirena, we'll need you three to cause a diversion while Evie, Zac and I break Cam out of the prison." Ondina said, taking charge.

"We can do that." Mimmi said nodding, "I know a few sharks that owe me a favor. Let's go find them. We'll meet you back here in a half hour." She waved the other two mermaids along and they followed her as she dove back down underwater.

"In the meantime, we'll swim up to the edge of the pod and wait for the guards to be distracted then we'll hurry in and out as fast as we can." Ondina finished explaining. They slowly picked their away across the reef, careful not to encounter any other mermaids from the pod.

Suddenly, Ondina stopped swimming and ducked down so she would be hidden by the reef. Zac and Evie copied her movements. She peaked over the edge of the reef and pointed ahead of her. In front of a circular hole in the seafloor were two heavily armored mermaids. In each of their hands, they held very sharp menacing spears.

They hovered in waiting until a sharp high pitched scream rang out loud and clear even through the water. Their heads jerked towards the sound and saw their distraction. Sirena, Weilan and Mimmi were swimming frantically and each being 'chased' by their own shark. The guards shared a look, silently trying to decide if they should abandon their post to help them. Zac prayed that they would.

Eventually, the guards' gaze swept the surrounding waters and then swiftly swam off to go help the mermaids. Cloaking themselves for good measure, they swam single file into the mouth of the underwater cave. They swam down the rows of empty cells until they located the one containing Cam. They let themselves become visible again and swam to the surface.

Cam's eyes widened upon seeing them, "What are you guys doing here?"

"There's no time to explain!" Evie hastily replied. She dove back under the water and slipped off her moon ring which fit perfectly into the lock. A second later, the door swung open and Evie pried her ring from the bolt then joined the others on the surface where Zac had already locked Cam into a tight embrace.

"It took you long enough to get me out." Cam said with a laugh, hugging his best friend back.

It was so weird for them to see him in this setting, in the ocean, amongst the pod, as a merman. Evie did have to admit, looking down at his glistening blue tail, that the look did suit him. How did he make being a newly turned merman look so natural? It took her at least a month to get used to the new appendage that took over her legs whenever she touched water.

"I really hate to interrupt whatever this is, but we should be going. We don't know how long the others can distract the guards." Ondina said.

They all turned towards the exit and were about to swim out of the cave when a familiar voice called out, "Ondina." She curiously turned around and her gaze immediately hardened upon laying eyes on her ex-boyfriend.

"You guys wait for me at the mouth of the cave, I won't be long," she told her companions then swam over to the cell containing Erik.

He wrapped a hand around the coral bars keeping him trapped in the small room, "It's good to see you again." He tried to a flirtatious smile.

Ondina kept scowling at him, "I wish I could say the same, but that would be a lie."

"You know, you could let me out of here and give me a second chance." The merman tried.

The blonde mermaid scoffed in response, "Was that your idea of an apology? Because I didn't hear one. Are you even sorry for what you've done?" A few full moons prior, Erik had stolen the moon stone that was once in the trident, a deadly merman weapon. With the stone, he activated a chamber that drained the magic from the moon pool and the mermaids themselves. The only reason any of them survived was due to Zac's bravery, although he almost died doing it.

"Of course, I do." Erik replied.

"Somehow, I don't believe you. I don't need this," she flicked her tail and was about to dive under when Erik tried one more time.

"Ondina!" He desperately called out her name.

She flicked her head back towards him one last time, "I hope you rot in here." And without waiting for a response or thinking about the hurt look that was on his face, she dove under the water and didn't look back.

She swam up behind the group, finding them at the mouth of the cave, still trying to block the image of Erik's hurt look from her memory. Evie noticed that Ondina was lost in thought, and she cocked her head in a silent _are you okay_ look. Ondina gave her a slight nod in response.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the group swam up from the mouth of the cave. This time they chose to stay visible because Cam didn't have a chance to practice his powers or even get a chance to use them.

They sped off to the edge of the reef, Cam not having trouble keeping up with any of them despite this being the first real time he swam with his tail, and waited for Mimmi, Sirena and Weilan to meet them there. It didn't take long for the others to find them and they were about to speed off to Rita's, thinking that they had successfully completed their mission without getting caught when a voice called from behind them, "You there!"

They all whirled around to see Veridia and two other mermaids from the council, all of them looking as angry as ever. "What is the meaning of this?"

Ondina opened her mouth to respond but Veridia spoke over her, "I don't want to hear anything you have to say. You all have betrayed us and others of your kind. You are no longer a member of the Mako pod." She looked at each of them in turn, "That means all of you."

They all stayed still, blinking at her, not truly believing what just happened. They had just gotten the pod back, were they really cast out again? Would the pod leave Mako or after a few days will they appeal to some reason? At this point, it was impossible for them to tell.

"Come on, guys. Let's just go," Evie said, finally breaking the silence. They all ducked below the surface of the water and the seven merpeople sped off in the direction of Rita's house.


	9. Chapter 8

Zac was the first of the group to surface in the pool of Rita's grotto, followed shortly by Evie and a panting and tired Cam. The four water born mermaids slowly rose from the water behind them, looking distraught and their eyes puffy. Evie offered them a sympathetic look.

"We just got the pod back," Ondina sniffled.

"We'll find a way to get them to understand," Zac said rationally. He looked over at his sister and realized just how much this was hurting her. Before they found out that they were twins, the pod was the only family that she knew and now they were taken from her.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault. If I had just resisted the pull of the moon then none of this would have happened," Cam said, shamefully looking down and swishing his deep blue tail back and forth in the water.

"It wasn't you or the moon," Weilan said grimly, "It was the water dragon."

Rita appeared into the doorway of the stone cavern, "What about the water dragon?" She asked looking sternly at the new girl. Zac looked over at her quizzically, her tone made it sound like she knew something on the subject. He challenged her to say more with his gaze, "Why don't you all get dried off and we can talk more in the grotto?"

It took a while for all seven merpeople to lift themselves from the pool and completely dry off (especially Cam who had little experience without the use off his legs). And one they were all on their own two feet again, the group followed Rita into the treasure room and took seats along the stone bench or floor.

"So, will someone please explain to me what you know? You're telling me that it wasn't the full moon that turned me into a merman it was a dragon." Cam demanded.

"Well not exactly," Weilan piped up, "The dragon just channeled the moon's magic to persuade you to go to Mako, which explains why you acted moonstruck even though you were still a land boy at the time."

Cam swallowed, facing another harsh reminder that he was no longer human. Looking around the room he realized that nobody in this room was even human. He was a part of his once nicknamed 'Mako Club.'

"I haven't heard about the water dragon in centuries," Rita elaborated, "The pod leaders used to tell us the stories of the dragon when we were hatchlings but I always assumed that they were just myths."

"I can assure you that the dragon is no myth," Weilan said, she lifted up her shirt and revealed a long scar that ran up the side of her right rib cage. "I followed the dragon here from Shanghai after I realized where the dragon was headed, I raced ahead to warn the Mako pod. It caught me and tried to catch me but I was too quick and got away with just a gash."

"Why did the dragon decide to come here?" Sirena asked.

"The dragon is attracted to where there is the most magical activity," the Asian mermaid looked over at the two former land people, "And there certainly has been a lot of magic happening here."

"Erik always said that we were never subtle," Ondina added quietly.

"So, if we know that my transformation was the result of the dragon, if we somehow defeat it will that take my powers away?" Cam asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not, Cameron," Rita responded sadly, "The dragon used the power of the full moon to transform you. If anything, that would only make the now merman side of you stronger. The two added forces are very great, as I have been told. I'm sorry."

"And why did the dragon choose me?" The blond merman asked.

"Well, whoever has had the most exposure to magic will be the first on the dragon's list. And it won't stop until it completes its mission of creating a new race of merpeople," Weilan explained.

"What?!" Everyone, except Weilan, simultaneously exclaimed.

"The dragon travels to all the moon pools on the seven different continents, trying to transform as many people as possible. It's attracted to areas and land people involved in the most magical activity," Weilan tapered off hoping Cam could pick up.

"And that's me. I was the first person to know about mermaids and I've been on Mako for multiple full moons _and_ I got splash by the moon pool water and briefly had powers." Cam finished.

"You know what this means, right?" Mimmi asked the group. She huffed when no one would respond, "It means that there will be someone transformed during the next full moon and it will most likely be somebody that we know."

"Well, when the time comes we will prepare and be ready," Rita said confidently. "In the meantime, we will have to start training Cameron to adjust to his new lifestyle and powers. Zac will you escort him home," She finished with a wink in their direction.

"Rita, what about the pod?" Zac asked, weary to return to the ocean after having just escaped it only a half hour ago.

"I think that the threat of a new merman will keep the pod away, at least for a little while. And besides, Cameron has to learn how to navigate underwater sooner or later." Rita added, "I think you all will be fine."

"Okay, then," Zac said standing up, "Follow me!" The two boys waved to the mermaids in the grotto, Zac gave Evie a kiss on the cheek and they made their way to the pool leading to the ocean.

Cam looked down at the water and tried to push away the pit forming in his stomach; it was hard for him to believe that diving into the water to turn into a merman and swim off into the ocean was becoming normal for him. He hated how much he was starting to enjoy it. He suddenly turned to Zac, smirking, "Do you think I'm faster than you yet?"

Cam didn't give him time to answer before he dove back into the water and let his tail propel him out of the cave. Zac laughed and shook his head, "Dream on, buddy." Then promptly dove into the water behind his best friend.

* * *

Back in the grotto, the mermaids were left sitting around and Sirena gave a loud sniffle. The group looked at her, it was the first time that she'd made a noise since they all gathered there together. Rita tentatively reached a hand out to the younger mermaid's shoulder, "Sirena, are you alright?"

"No!" She wailed, "We've lost the pod again. They cast us all out again!"

"We'll find a way to get them to come around," Evie said positively, "They came to terms with me and Zac. It'll be okay, things will work out."

"But my sister…" Sirena whimpered.

"She'll be on our side. She has to see reason." Ondina said matter-of-factly.

They all took their time comforting Sirena, trying to ignore the long uphill climb that they all faced.


	10. Chapter 9

**AN: Hi everyone! I want to apologize for the length of the previous chapter, it was nowhere near as long as I'd hoped it would be. Hopefully this one makes up for that! Enjoy! Drop a comment if you liked it ;)**

 **Much love!**

* * *

As the month continued on, Cam carefully became a part of the group. He mastered his powers and was soon on the same level as Zac and the pod-born mermaids. He gracefully learned the art of avoiding water and being quick on his feet when needing to come up with a lie. Cam was finally comfortable with being a merman. After looking past the cons, he really began to enjoy the advantages of having a tail. He started to remember why he wanted one in the first place. There was no use in pouting for much longer since he was stuck like this, and there was nothing that anyone could do to reverse his transformation. He was on his way to acceptance.

The girls began to get used to not always being with the pod. Mimmi continued researching the water dragon and myths that went along with it but the internet didn't provide any information that Weilan hadn't already told them. Sirena spent most of her time now with David, in the café, on dates or swimming together; as distraught as she was about losing her sister, Sirena felt lucky to be growing ever closer to David. And he, in return, was just as happy to be there for her. As for Weilan and Ondina, they continued to clash at every chance they got. The others noticed that they seemed to enjoy not getting alone, almost like it was amusing to watch the other get fired up.

Zac and Evie were still as strong as ever, it was comforting for each of them to find that their relationship was a constant throughout the chaos that they faced almost daily.

But then came the day for which they were all preparing: the day of the full moon. Zac was to look after Cam during his first full moon, while the mermaids patrolled the island and guarded the land entrance. Ondina tried to speak to the council to seek their help in protecting the land people from the dragon but the council had no interest in 'dry' affairs. Veridia made it a point to share that land people were beneath them and the interaction did nothing to help lift the girls' banishment.

"I really think you should just take Cam to Mako and make him push through the moon spell, like Sirena did with me," Evie exclaimed to Zac, who was sitting across from her at a table on the patio of the Ocean Café.

"Well, that's not how I learned to do it and I'm afraid it'll be different for mermen," He replied lowering his voice for the last bit of his sentence. He glanced around for good measure to see if anyone heard. Zac's gaze returned to his girlfriend after he decided nobody was paying them any attention.

Evie shook her head, "Mako will draw him, and we both know how that feels. And with how strong Cam is getting it'll be hard to stop him." Zac couldn't argue with that, Cam had easily mastered controlling his powers; it took him days to learn what Zac had accumulated over his months of being a merman. Even Rita admitted that she hadn't seen someone so in control in decades.

Zac opened his mouth to respond but David bustled over to their table with the food order that they'd placed (both fish burgers of course). "So," David asked the pair with a wink, "Are you all good to go for tonight?"

Zac nodded, "Just about, we're only trying to figure out what to do with Cam," he hesitated, not wanting to reveal too much, "Also, call me if you see anyone acting strangely."

David looked back at him quizzically, "Um, sure thing. Enjoy your food." Then, he hurried off to help the other surrounding tables.

The group had decided not to tell anyone about the water dragon, they didn't need their friends worrying (or more specifically Carly getting suspicious). The merpeople knew that their human friends were somewhere on the dragon's list, having been around and exposed to magic, but if they found a way to stop the dragon before they all transformed, then there would be no need for making them worry.

Zac and Evie quickly finished their food and sent out a text when there was one hour to moon rise. After paying the check, Zac walked Evie to a secluded section of the beach and kissed her goodbye and watched as she disappeared into the waves to meet the other mermaids at Mako. He watched her orange tail break the surface of the water in a 'wave' bye; then he fished his phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Cam.

Bungalow in 10

When Zac finished his walk back to his house, Cam was already waiting for him on the front step. His hands were shoved deep into his short pockets and he casually leaned up against the railing along the steps. Despite him looking so calm, his knee bounced up and down uncontrollably.

"Nervous?" Zac asked as he approached the blond merman.

"What? Me? What's to be nervous about?" Cam tried to joke, though his voice came out a bit shakier than he intended.

"Don't worry," Zac said clapping his friend on the shoulder, "I'm here to help you through this." He led his friend through the yard over to the bungalow where Zac's room was. After bolting the door and taping the curtains up, they settled on his couch, flipped on the TV and started playing their favorite video game.

Soon Cam began to even forget that the full moon was looming, but an alarm on Zac's phone woke him from the comforting lull that he had fallen into "The moon is up." Zac said in a monotone voice.

Cam nodded his head and tried to relax. Truthfully, he didn't need Zac to tell him about the moon, he already instinctively knew that it was there. The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up and he clenched his hands into fists. It was suddenly to hot in here for him, Cam jumped up and started to pace back and forth in the small room.

"You okay, man?" Zac asked his friend tentatively.

"Yes, I'm fine!" Cam burst with sudden rage, "I just need some air."

"I really don't think that's a good idea," Zac said, jumping up to block the door. It was a shock that the moon was already having such a big effect on Cam and he hadn't even been in the moonlight yet.

"Zac, move." Cam demanded sternly. He slowly lifted up his right arm and held out his hand, Zac tried to mimic the motion but was too slow. Cam's powers reached out and yanked Zac away from the door like a ragdoll and tossed him to the side. Zac hit his head on the dresser and when he lifted his hand to the place on his forehead where the pain was stemming from; after he pulled his hand back down he noticed that his fingers came away bloody.

Cam didn't stick around to see if his friend was alright and, truthfully, he didn't care. Right now, his skin was itching to be in the moonlight. He threw open the front door and stepped out into the cool night air. The moon shone brightly overhead, Cam tipped his head back and took a deep breath. Being here wasn't enough, Mako was calling to him.

Cam followed his instincts and crossed the yard to dock over the canal; Zac wasn't far behind him and shouted his friend's name in order to get his attention. Cam didn't bother turning around and instead dove head first into the ocean. Zac wasn't far behind him and sprinted his way over in order to catch up and try to stop him.

The two mermen sped towards Mako, one only seconds ahead of the other. It occurred to Zac that it might be more effective to let Cam go to the moon pool, like Evie had suggested earlier, Cam could just push through the moon spell there. Zac didn't try to stop Cam anymore, but just followed him closely behind as they entered the cave of the moon pool.

The full moon was already over the opening of the volcano, and the water was filled with magic and bubbles, making it hard for Zac to be in the water. But there was one thing that he did notice: he and Cam weren't alone.

Upon swimming in, Zac noticed a pair of very two human looking legs treading water to stay afloat in the pool. When he surfaced, Cam had already snapped out of his daze and was fully focused on their companion in the pool, whose face was tipped toward to moon, drinking in the power.. Zac turned around and came face to face with the water dragon's next victim.

David.


	11. Chapter 10

"Zac, help me with him." Cam commanded the dark haired merman. Zac managed to tear his gaze away from David, who he was still shocked to find in the moon pool while it was active. They hauled David by his armpits to the ledge of the pool, trying to lift him from the water before it was too late. They both knew that their efforts were in vain, it only took a second of being exposed to the activated moon pool water for it to take effect.

The moon above them disappeared from the opening above the pool, causing the bubbles around them to cease. David blinked a few times and looked curiously around at his surroundings; only having been to the moon pool a few times it was hard for him to get his bearings at first.

Then he noticed his fish tailed companions hovering in the water near him. "What happened?" he asked the pair groggily.

Zac opened his mouth to respond but never got the chance because that was when David blacked out.

* * *

It took a lot of effort for the two mermen to drag their unconscious friend back to the mainland. They didn't know if it was safe to bring him through the underwater entrance to Rita's so they settled on a seclude stretch of beach adjacent to her house. After the two mermen dragged themselves and David from the surf, they dried everyone off as best as they could and completed the climb up the hill to Rita's house.

At this point it was late at night, probably close to two in the morning, so nobody was around to question the two boys carrying their unconscious friend. Once they reached the beach house, Zac produced the spare key that Rita gave him in any case of emergency. The lock clicked and the door swung open, Cam and Zac dragged David the last few meters and laid him down on the couch. The two mermen sat for a moment, breathing heavily.

Behind them a lamp clicked on and Rita stood their rapped in a house robe and wearing fluffy slippers on her feet. Dark circles framed underneath her eyes and worry lines framed her face, it didn't look like she had gotten any sleep that night. "What's going on?" Rita asked the boys.

Zac chewed on his lip nervously before answering, "It was David. He was next on the dragon's list. Cam escaped to the moon pool and when we got there he was in the pool while it was active."

"Oh dear," Rita said, putting her hand to her mouth. She couldn't bear to see another one of her students be affected by magic. She knew the dangers of living an enchanted life and didn't want to burden yet another person, especially, one that was so young and had much more to amount to like David. She knew how much potential he held and knew having a tail would hold him back in many ways.

"What do we do now?" Cam asked, nodding his head toward their curly haired friend who was now obliviously gently snoring on the couch.

"Well, it will be several hours before David recovers from the aftershock of the moon pool. He'll be unable to awaken before then. You two can return home in the meantime, but just be sure to be back early tomorrow morning. We'll need to explain what happened to him so he can wrap his head around it before telling Sirena. I'm not sure how she'll take it." Rita elaborated.

Zac and Cam nodded and said their goodbyes, promising to be back in a few hours. The two couldn't help but feel sick to their stomachs not only for David but Sirena as well. She was a very sympathetic person and if David were to struggle with growing a tail then Sirena would, not doubt, take the brunt of it.

* * *

Zac jolted awake when he heard a rapt knock at the door of his bungalow. He stretched a moment then rolled out of bed and crossed the room to greet whoever was at the door. Cam groggily sat up in the futon that he'd slept on and peered into the doorway when Zac opened it.

"Have you guys seen David?" Zac's mom, Lauren, asked them hurriedly. Zac's stomach sunk slightly, what could she possibly know? It wasn't like David had a chance to be exposed or tell anyone about what happened. Zac hoped that there was a very human explanation for his mom's worry.

She looked between the two teenage boys in the room, daring them to answer, "I just spoke to his mother on the phone. David never came back home last night after closing the café. She was hoping that he was with the two of you."

"Sorry, he haven't seen him Mrs. B," Cam lied. They knew that they needed to get to Rita's and very quickly brief David on his recent developments before his mother sent out a search party for him. She was always known to be a bit eccentric.

Lauren sighed and smoothed her hair down worriedly, "Okay, but you boys call me if you find out anything."

"Will do, mom." Zac said, planting a kiss on her forehead. She then left, closing the door behind her.

The mermen quickly dressed and hurried out to the dock behind the house and gracefully dove into the sea. They kicked on the speed and made to Rita's house in record time. The older mermaid was already waiting for them at the edge of the pool when they surfaced.

"Good, you're finally here. He is already starting to stir," She informed them.

By the time the two of them dried off and made their way up the stairs, David was already sitting up on the couch and looking around the room. As soon as his eyes lay upon Rita, Zac and Cam, he asked them, "What am I doing here? What happened last night?"

Zac and Cam crossed the room and sat on the coffee table across from David, and for once Rita didn't scold them about not sitting in a chair. Instead, she said, "I'll just brew us some tea."

"Did something happen to me last night?" David asked again.

Zac and Cam shared a nervous look before launching into the story of the previous night's events, including some details on the water dragon. David listened intently and nodded along until they reached the point where the mermen found David in the moon pool. From then, he just stared at them wide eyed.

By the time they had finished recounting their story, Rita had returned with everyone's mugs of tea.

David looked at the three of them, "So this means that I'm a…" He almost couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Merman." Cam finished for him

It seemed so impossible to David that he was now going to be a part of the secret that so many of his friends shared. Like the ocean belonged to them and now he was going to barge in.

There was a splash from downstairs followed by female voices and a few moments later, five mermaids emerged from the grotto entrance. They were confused being greeted from the three boys.

Evie made her way over to her boyfriend and after kissing him on the cheek, asked, "Everything was smooth on our end. How did things go with you boys last night?"

Zac couldn't form the words in his mouth and all he managed was: "Uhhhh."

Fortunately for Zac, Rita took charge. "Why don't we all go back downstairs and give David and Sirena some time privately." She quickly ushered all of the teenagers back downstairs, leaving the couple alone in the living room.

Sirena scooted close to David on the couch, and he protectively put his arm around her. "Is everything okay?" She asked him.

David sat, thinking for a moment. _Was_ everything okay? Truthfully, being a merman wasn't the worst thing in the world (save for it being a little unbelievable); it would bring him closer to Sirena and the world she came from.

He sighed, finally deciding on his answer, "I'm okay, but something incredible happened last night. Honestly, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it. But," he hesitated, "Zac and Cam found me in the moon pool last night and, well, it looks like I'm going to be a merman."

Sirena sat straight up, tears brimming in her eyes, "No! This is all my fault!" She buried her face into David's chest while he rubbed her back reassuringly. "If it wasn't for me then the dragon wouldn't have picked you."

David shushed her quietly and lightly lifted her chin with his fingers, "Sirena. I'm okay. Honestly, it makes me a little excited."

Sirena laughed and leaned in and kissed him. When their lips met, she couldn't help but feel fireworks exploding in her chest. Being with the man she loved made her feel tingly all over and warm inside.

"I hate to interrupt," said Rita from behind the couple, "but David you might want to make an appearance at home. Your mother is worried sick."

 **Hi everyone! I hope you are all enjoying these updates, I just wanted to warn everyone that I will be starting school soon and between that, sports and work I might not be getting chapters out as fast. I promise I will try my best!**

 **If you are enjoying the story be sure to follow and leave a review!**

 **Much love!**


	12. Chapter 11

**AN: Just wanted to give a quick language warning at the beginning of this chapter. Also this will most likely be the last chapter I post before school starts back up for me.**

 **Other than that, hope you enjoy! Don't forget to follow and review!**

* * *

After hurrying home and making a lame excuse to his parents, David scurried up to his room and softly closed the door behind him. He didn't need his older brother or two younger sisters seeing what he was about to do. He nervously (and excitedly) paced the length of his room, ' _Was this going to hurt? What if he couldn't get his legs back?'_ He desperately wished that Sirena were there to help him.

Before he could lose his nerve, David snatched a half full water bottle from his bedside table and began to twist the cap. He was about to dip a finger in when, almost like she'd heard his thoughts, Sirena tapped on his bedroom window. Relief flooded through him upon seeing her, after opening the window he pulled her into a tight embrace, "I'm so happy you're here." He whispered.

"Have you done it yet?" Sirena asked, nodding her head towards the botte that he abandoned on the table.

He shook his head, "No, but I was about to."

Sirena released a sigh of relief, "Good, I wanted to be here for you."

David crossed the room and retrieved the bottle once more; he hesitated for a second before handing it to his girlfriend, "You do the honors."

She took the bottle from him and twisted the cap off, before splashing him Sirena pulled him in for one final reassuring hug. David, for one, was just excited to get the initial shock over with. He was lost in a daydream of him when Sirena emptied the rest of the bottle over the top of his head.

From the moment the water made contact with his skin, David felt himself begin to change. His stomach flipped over and began to throb; his legs went weak underneath him and he sank to the floor no longer able to hold his own weight. His back rested against the bed table. A moan escaped from his lips and he gripped Sirena's hand tighter as the physical changes began. His legs took on a blue hue and as they began to stitch themselves together, David's pain completely dissipated and left only a pleasant tingle. Finally, his feet spread out into the large powerful fin.

Both David and Sirena let out the breaths that they were holding. "Wow," Sirena breathed as she eyed him up and down.

David ran his fingers along his hips where his toned skin faded seamlessly into blue scales. He gave his tail an experimental flick and was surprised by how easily he could control it; even further he started curling and unfurling his fin.

"This is…" He began to say, but couldn't find a word to describe all the emotions he was feeling. The only thing that he was only able to think was that he was speechless.

"You look so handsome," Sirena said with a blush. She pulled herself closer to the merman on the floor and tugged his shoulders down so their lips met. The kiss grew more intense as each person grew hungrier for more.

But before the kiss could grow into something more, they were interrupted, "Davie?" it was David's littlest sister, Maggie, who had just turned six. Her small curly head peaked in through the doorway and her eyes darted with excitement upon seeing her older brother's new tail. She let out a squeal of excitement and bounded towards them across the room, "Davie, you're a mermaid?"

"Merman." He groaned and let his head tilt back and bang against the table he was using for support. Sirena got up and closed the door and locked it for good measure so no one else would walk in on them.

David sighed and tried to take on a serious tone, "Maggie, you have to promise me that you won't say anything about this to _anyone._ Please, I need to keep this a secret."

"I can't tell anyone?" She whimpered.

David shook his head.

"My teacher?"

"No."

"Mommy and Daddy?"

"Especially, not mom and dad! Maggie, it is really important that you keep this a secret." David pleaded with the young girl. Some of the kids at school were starting to tease her for carrying a stuffed toy everywhere she went, but they certainly hadn't stopped her from taking her best friend with her.

"Can I tell Bot?" She asked, hopefully holding up the ratty old teddy bear that could never leave her side.

Despite the strange situation that he found himself in, David let out a laugh, "Sure, but that's the only person you can tell."

"Okay!" She said, jumping up and happily skipping back down the hallway.

Once again, Sirena closed the door behind the little girl. She retrieved some towels from a stack of laundry and began the process of drying David off. "You know, even if she does blab, nobody is going to believe her." Sirena said to him hopefully.

"I know. You just never know what may happen, I wanted to be sure." David said shaking his head. He ran a hand nervously through his hair.

As soon as Sirena swiped the last few droplets from his tail, David began to feel the change again. Happening much faster this time, his tail separated back into two legs and his shirt reappeared, leaving him a human sitting on the floor with a fluttery feeling in his stomach.

"It's going to take me a while to get used to that," He said with a laugh.

* * *

Cam walked through the front doors of the Ocean Café with every intention of seeing if David was there, and if he was then he was to send him home immediately. A newbie merman was too at risk of being splashed while working in a busy café. Luckily for him and the Mako Club, David was nowhere in sight.

Cam did manage to find Carly working behind the counter, who was still oblivious to him being a merman. He had been trying to keep his distance from her; it was all too familiar to the way Zac had kept himself from Evie after first transforming.

But now he stayed away for two reasons: to not let her find out that Cam was a merman and to protect her from the dragon. He figured that by distancing himself from her that the dragon wouldn't pay so much attention and leave her alone for the time being. Of course, he knew that eventually the dragon would focus on her as the next victim, but he thought maybe he could postpone it long enough for them to stop the dragon. Cam wasn't sure that Carly would take being a mermaid very well.

Carly perked up upon seeing her boyfriend, Cam resisted the urge to ignore her and walk out. Instead, he crossed the room and met her at the main counter. Cam greeted her with a small peck on the lips.

"I have a surprise for you," she said the moment they pulled apart, not bothering to hide her excitement.

"Oh, really?" Cam said raising an eyebrow.

"I'm taking the rest of the day off to take you on a surprise date!" Carly said beaming, "Rhonda, I'm heading out now," She told one of the employees and untied her apron to hang it on the hook on the back wall.

Cam did his best to visibly hide his worry. This was going to be very risky, but he knew why Carly did this. They had been spending so little time together that she felt the need to plan everything herself in order to get him to comply. Cam felt guiltier by the second; he had to keep reminding himself that it was for her protection.

They walked out of the café hand in hand and Carly led him down the street to a secret cove surrounded by large sea cliffs. In the middle of the sandy secluded beach sat a checkered blanket and a wire picnic basket.

Carly smiled at the surprised look on her boyfriend's face. They sat down on the blanket and Carly began to pull containers of all of Cam's favorite foods from the picnic basket. "I can't believe you went to all this trouble." Cam said still in awe.

Finally, Carly pulled out a chilled bottle of champagne and two plastic cups, "Joe owed me a favor." Carly told Cam with a wink.

Half an hour later, all the food was gone and the couple was left sipping their drinks while they watched the sunset over the ocean. Cam was beginning to relax more and more with the aid of his alcoholic beverage.

Carly was snuggled into Cam's chest, left breathing in the faint scent of his cologne. She turned up to kiss him once more, but in doing so her cup sloshed from her hand and managed to spill down Cam's leg.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Carly said reaching around for some napkins.

But Cam had already jumped up and, keeping a running countdown in his head, managed to find the nearest hiding spot before collapsing onto the ground. Hidden by large boulders on the beach, the merman began to remove the champagne drops from himself. He froze when he heard Carly approaching.

"Cam, are you okay?" She asked from the other side of the rock.

"Yes, don't come any closer!" He quickly shouted back. "I- um had to get my clothes dry."

"Oh well, let me help then." She tried to walk closer bt once again Cam's words stopped her.

"No! I'm naked," He hoped that would keep her away.

Carly let out a laugh and tried to walk forward again, "That's all, well; it isn't like I haven't seen-"

"Carly, please, stay over there," Cam pleaded with her. He was almost dry now, only a few more seconds to go and he could make his reappearance.

But that was when Carly's dam broke, "You know what Cameron Mitchell? I don't know what the fuck has been up with you lately! I've tried to look past it and try to work things out and do everything for you, but all I get back is _shit!_ When you figure things out, let me know."

Cam had finished drying himself off, and impatiently waited for the transformation to finish before jumping up to chase after Carly. She was already gone and out of sight. The only thing that was left was their abandoned picnic.


	13. Chapter 12

**Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that this update took so long to get out. School this year has been very stressful and I've had a lot of work to do. Hopefully you guys will enjoy this long update! More to come soon! Be sure to leave a comment and tell me what you all think.**

Zac paced back and forth in his bedroom, having just received a frantic phone call from Cam who just had a very close call with Carly. They all new that it was only a matter of time before she put the pieces together This was beginning to get out of hand, already it felt like the ocean was getting crowded but Zac shuddered to think about the upcoming months and who would be the next unfortunate one of their friends to end up with a tail. It was a lot for him to deal with, and he couldn't help but feel jealous. Having a tail used to be his special thing and now there were more and more people being a part of his world that he was having trouble sharing.

He wanted to talk and rant to somebody about it but the only people that were available were newly turned merpeople, a snobby pod mermaid, a lovestruck mermaid, his sister and his high school principle. The options felt more than a bit limited. More than anything he wanted to talk to his mom and dad about all of the problems that he was facing but he knew that deep down involving his parents would only put them in more danger.

Zac couldn't help but face the thought of his adoptive parents finding out the truth. All their puzzle pieces would finally fit together, finding their freak merman son washed up on the beach. He had also yet to tell them that Mimmi was his twin sister, it just opened the door to too many questions that he didn't know where to begin answering (whether he lied or not).

A knock at his door interrupted his swirling thoughts, it was his mom.

Zac cleared his throat and tried for a convincing, "Come in."

Lauren stepped in the bungalow, a hopeful look gleaming in her eye, "Darling, your father and I were just headed to the club for lunch. Would you like to join us? You could bring Evie along!"

It broke Zac's heart to shake his head, but he knew the consequences of spending time around his parents: too much exposure to magic would put them even more at risk of the dragon finding them than they already were.

Lauren did the best to hide the disappointment on her face but Zac managed to see right through. "I – I'm sorry. I'm just really behind with some stuff for school," He fumbled for an apology while keeping his eyes locked onto the laces of his shoes.

"Well, we make time for what is important in our lives," She said sadly. Lauran crossed the room and put an arm around her son and then retreated, closing the door to the bungalow as she left the room.

As soon as she was gone, Zac heaved a big sigh. Of relief? Or sadness? Or of guilt?

* * *

Cam sat in the bathtub of the upstairs bathroom of his house, staring glumly down at his blue and silvery tail. The events of his date with Carly kept cruelly playing over and over in his mind. Where had he gone so wrong? Should he have just let Carly see him?

He knew that at this point, if he just came out and told her that she would know that he was just trying to keep it a secret. No. Telling her was really not an option now. Besides that, the more she knew about magic, the more at risk she would be. Cam knew that he was doing this for her own good, and couldn't blame her for being mad, knowing that he would feel the same way if the roles were reversed.

A knock at the bathroom door jolted him from his thoughts. The doorknob rattled as Julia tried to force her way into the small room, but she only found it locked. "Cam!" She exclaimed through the door. "You've been in there for an hour! Stop feeling yourself, it's my turn for the bathroom."

Cam's heart hammered in his chest, and thanked his past self for having the forethought of locking the door. He did not want to have to deal with explaining his secret to his loudmouth little sister.

The knob rattled again, "Hello?"

Cam cleared his throat, "Yeah, okay. I'll be out in a minute." He pulled the plug on the bathtub and the water began to gurgle down the drain. Cam then began the task of heaving himself over the edge of the bath. He had a stack of towels ready and plucked one from the top.

He was nearly dry when he noticed the bathroom doorknob turn and begin to creak open. He panicked and thrust his hand out in desperation, his powers managed to reach out and slam the door shut just in time, so no one could have seen or stepped in.

Cam finished drying himself, regained his legs and clothes and angrily stepped out of the bathroom. "What the hell do you…" His voice tampered off, he fully expected to see his annoying little sister outside the door who had found a way to pick the lock, but instead he stood face to face with his mother who held a skeleton key in her hand.

"You know the rule that we have in this house, Cameron. Open door policy." She said sternly. Julia stood behind their mother who just watched her dirty work with a smirk, Cam should have known that she would tattle on him She hadn't stopped blaming him for everything ever since she learned how to talk. She opened her phone and quickly typed out something and laughed to herself, probably telling one of her ditzy friends how she had just gotten her brother in trouble.

"Mom, I was naked. I needed privacy, I don't know what else to tell you. It's not like I try to walk in on any of you when you're in the bath." Cam shook his head. What he was saying, was at least half true.

"Yeah, speaking of that, how many 17 year boys still take baths?" Julia sneered at him, "Did you need some 'me' time? Were there scented candles? Oh, and bath bombs? I love bath bombs."

"Jesus, Julia! Just shut up!" Cam exclaimed and slammed his balled fists down to his sides. Immediately, Julia's phone was ripped from her hands mid-text and fell onto the hardwood floor with a sickening crack.

Both his mom and sister looked at Cam in confusion, obviously seeing the 'coincidence' in timing. There was no doubt in his mind that his powers were responsible.

He looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to put on a shocked face and play dumb. "Cameron, did you just…" His mom started.

He forced out a laugh, "Yeah, right. She drops that thing so many times, it's hard not to time it with something."

He managed to slip away down the hall and couldn't breathe a sigh of relief until he was safe in his own bedroom. He then came to the sickening realization that he had just used magic in front of his family. More exposure. More at risk.

No one was safe near him.

* * *

Evie sat on the bed in her room, and she satisfyingly typed out the last line to her history essay. As soon as she hit the Save button, she closed her laptop and relaxed on the pillows at the head of the bed. She flicked through social media on her phone and clutched a warm mug of tea.

She tried to push the intrusive thoughts out of her mind of the dragon problem. Their new focus had to be protecting those who didn't yet know about magic and merpeople and the messy life that followed both of those things. She thought about all the people in her life that she needed to protect, especially Carly and her father.

There was a soft knock at her open door, Evie looked up and saw her dad. She smiled warmly up at him. "Hi, sweetheart." He said in greeting. He took a seat at the end of her bed.

"Hey, Dad. What's up?" She looked at him quizzically.

"Well, I'm in a bit of a tough spot right now. I'm supposed to take a fully booked group out on the reef tomorrow but one of my guides just called out sick and nobody else can cover his shift. I need someone else there because someone needs to be in the water with the tourists and someone needs to be in the boat— "

"Maintaining the air compressor." Evie finished for him. "And you're the only one who knows how to do that.

Doug looked over at his daughter and jokingly batted his eyelashes, "So, would you help out your old man?"

Evie's eyes danced around the room, trying to find anywhere to look but at her father. She thought of a lie as quickly as she could, "I'm really sorry, Dad. I'm in a group project for chemistry and I need to meet with my group members tomorrow at the library to finish up the lab report."

As much as she wanted to help, she knew that going out on a boat would be risky but leading a dive tour would be suicide. There would be no way for her to hide her giant golden mermaid tail from her father and thirty gawking tourists.

"Ah, I see. Well, I'll figure out something then."

"I'm sorry, dad, I wish I could help." Evie replied, her heart filing up with guilt.

"I know that you would if you could, darling." He pulled her forward and kissed her on the forehead. Then he left the room, leaving Evie feeling worse about her mermaid-ness than before.

She wanted nothing more than to tell her dad the truth about the other half of her life, but she knew how risky that would be. The second that he knew about magic, he would be on the dragon's radar. The safest thing for him was to make sure that he stayed in the dark. Evie just hoped that they could deal with the dragon soon enough for her to salvage some sort of relationship with her father.

* * *

David sat around the dinner table with his five other family members (which included his oldest brother Joe, who at the age of 20, was still living at home). Having a family dinner was something that his mother had requested, in order to spend more time together as a family. She had tried to get all of them together during breakfast, but Joe never seemed to show his face before one in the afternoon.

The only problem with the 'family bonding' was that nobody was talking, even little Maggie was distracted by a doll that she had brought to the dinner table. Leah, David's 14 year old sister, was busy texting her best friend David was doing was trying to train himself to navigate the water dangers of the dinner table. One drop, splash or spill and it was game over.

"So, how was everyone's day?" David's mother said in a sad attempt to get the conversation rolling. His dad looked over and glared at her, he didn't want to be around the table as much as the other kids. There was probably some sport on TV that he couldn't wait to get up and watch.

Maggie looked up at their mother, with wild excitement in her eyes like she just remembered something incredible. "Mommy, did you know that Davie is a mermaid?"

David's heart dropped into his stomach, but his mother only laughed, "My dear Maggie, you have always had the most active imagination."

David hadn't been a merman for more than a few hours and he already ran the risk of letting his whole family know about his secret and putting them in harms way. Part of him just wanted to come clear right then and there but looking around at his family he quickly decided against it and managed to come up with the best lie that he could under pressure. "Yeah, Maggie and I were playing a game, she gave each of us a mythical creature that we were going to be." He said giving a look to his youngest sister.

Luckily, Maggie was very smart for her age and caught on quickly, "That's right, Davie was a mermaid and Joe is a vampire because he never seems to show his face during the day," This earned a chuckle from their parents and a frown from Joe, "Leah is a witch, Mommy is an elf and Daddy is a wizard." Maggie sat back looking very satisfied with herself. David had to hand it to her, she was very quick on her feet. He'd have to watch out the next time he thought she was lying to him.

Their dad chuckled, "And, darling, what are you?"

Maggie puffed out her chest proudly, "I am the fairy princess, and you all should bow down before me."

The whole family laughed in response, their dad reached over and pinched Maggie's sides making her laugh uncontrollably and continued to poke her most ticklish spots, "All hail Princess Maggie!" He said, now laughing himself.

David breathed out a sigh of relief, he had narrowly escaped getting caught. He would have to have a little chat with his sister later about being a good secret keeper. But he could hardly blame her, this secret was so exciting, he was almost bursting at the seams himself. He wanted nothing more that take his new tail out for a spin with Sirena or try out his new powers, there was now almost no end to what he could do.

David's mom looked very pleased with herself, they were all talking and laughing like a normally functioning family. David had to roll his eyes to himself, he hated it when his mother was right.


	14. Chapter 13

Mimmi huffed and puffed at she dragged her stuffed animal cart up the hill, finally able to throw on the break and put it in position for the day. She went behind the cart and began to stock all different kinds of stuffed sea animals on the shelves (though not many of them struck her as accurate). She loved having her job here, it was her way of blending in and learning more about the people here on land. In only just a few months, there was almost nothing that caught her by surprise but was constantly fascinated with all the technology that surrounded her. There was never anything very interesting like this in the ocean, and all of the human gadgets didn't seem to work underwater.

The Marine Park was completely deserted before opening, save for a few employees bustling around in some last minute preparation for customers. Mimmi's cart wasn't all that hard to set up, so she had a few extra minutes on her hands before the park opened its gates.

Mimmi took her cell phone from her back pocket (She finally wore Rita down into letting her get one) and flipped through looking for messages. Well, more like one message. She was waiting on her daily text from Chris, ever since she got her phone they ended up texting and calling non-stop, which seemed to annoy a bit of the others since the time difference from America was so drastic. But that didn't seem to stop her.

Chris had been overseas doing an internship in America for the past few months. He worked really hard in order to get the stop and it was the biggest opportunity, there was no way that he could have passed it up. And as sad as it made Mimmi that he was gone, she knew that over there he was really really happy.

It was around this time that Chris would have been let out of class and he would either have free time in his dorm or go to the dining hall for some dinner.

Mimmi flicked upward to refresh the page once more, but was once again disappointed to see that nothing came through. She sighed and shoved her phone back down in her pocket, since the first few guests were starting to make their way through the park.

She smiled at a few of the customers but none of them seemed very interested in buying a stuffed toy, she looked at her phone again and in seeing that only a few minutes had passed Mimmi thought to herself, _This is going to be a long shift._

Mimmi suddenly jumped as she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, she prayed to every sea god that it wasn't her manager catching her on her phone when she was working. "Are you waiting to hear from me or something?" A familiar voice asked.

Immediately, she whirled around and came face to face with Chris. The mermaid grinned from ear to ear and threw her arms around him, "Chris! I can't believe you're back! Why didn't you tell me that you were coming home?"

He chuckled at her, "It's good to see you too, Mimmi. Sorry I wasn't here sooner, they wouldn't let me in until the park opened. I wanted to surprise you."

"Well, I am surprised," Mimmi said with a smile, "And you're here now so that's all that matters."

"Oh I almost forgot!" Christ pulled his right hand out from behind his back. He held a little glass snow globe that pictured Hollywood Boulevard lined with palm trees, and with a small shake, glitter floated all around the glass ball and then once again settled at the bottom. "Only America's finest, just for you."

"Wow!" Mimmi said in amazement, taking it from his hand and shaking the globe for herself, "Thank you so much! I can't believe you thought of me while you were over there."

"Are you kidding?" He replied, "I couldn't stop thinking about you." As soon as the sentence left his lips, Chris' ears turned pink and he began to stare at a fixed point on the ground.

"Hey," Mimmi said putting a hand on his arm and giving him a wink, "Don't worry, I know how you feel."

He laughed nervously, "So, do you need any help?"

Mimmi looked around her cart, everything had been set up and people didn't buy souvenirs this early into their trip because they'd have to carry it around with them all day. "It shouldn't be too busy here for a while."

Chris smiled at her, "Good that means I'm not keeping you from anything. I have a whole day planned for us as soon as you get off work. Just you wait."

* * *

The rest of Mimmi's work day went smoothly, and with Chris helping her out the time seemed to fly by. It was crazy because she knew how much she missed him but now actually spending time with him she could only now begin to feel the longing in her heart subside.

After her coworker showed up to take her shift, Mimmi retreated to the back room of the main office in the marine park to punch out. Chris was waiting for her on the other side of the door and no sooner had she stepped through did he pull her close and press their lips together.

Fireworks exploded in Mimmi's stomach and she felt so elated that she could just float up and walk on air. Chris pulled away. "I had to wait three months to do that, but waiting another few hours until you had to clock out was absolute torture."

Mimmi laughed, "We wouldn't want me looking unprofessional at work, right?"

"Nope," Chris replied, taking her hand and leading her out the the back parking lot to where his car was parked. Chris got in behind the steering wheel and Mimmi climbed in the passenger side. She still didn't know how to drive, though she had been begging Rita to teach her. Mimmi had picked up some of the fundamentals from watching other people but was still itching to try it herself.

"So, where are we going?" Mimmi queried.

"Well, I was thinking a quick stop at the café for some fuel after a long and _hard_ day at work. Then it'll be a quick drive to a private cove where we can take a walk on the beach during sunset." Chris said, looking proud of himself, he pulled out onto the main road and twisted the knob that controlled the volume of the radio. A new pop song began blasting through the speakers.

"That sounds perfect," Mimmi said, she'd just have to be extra careful at the beach, it wasn't anything that she couldn't handle.

Chris pulled into the parking lot of the Ocean Café and the pair hopped out of the car. They walked inside and Chris went to find them a table and order while Mimmi changed out of her work clothes. After leaving the bathroom with changed clothes and a new layer of lip gloss, Mimmi was stopped by her friend Evie.

"What is he doing back here?" She asked excitedly for her friend. She knew how much she had been secretly pining for him.

"He surprised me at work today, I had no idea he was coming home," Mimmi replied with the same excitement. They tried to keep their voices low as to not let Chris know they were talking about him. But she got the idea that he kept looking at them from the corner of his eye.

"Well, don't let me stop you. Have fun today!" Evie gave her friend a small shove in the direction of Chris' table.

Soon the couple received their drinks and food and were happily talking and catching up. Chris told Mimmi of the unbelievable classes and first hand experiences that he got to participate in. The Marine Park even offered him a job as a training assistant for the dolphin tank, which meant the two of them would be working together again.

Mimmi was so thrilled by the idea that they would be spending more time together and that he even wanted to. Looking across the table at him, Mimmi felt that she could spend every second of everyday with Chris and still never tire of being with him. The taste of him still lingered on her lips and in her mouth, and she wanted nothing more than to kiss him again, but with so many people here and watching she had to hold herself back.

Chris looked down at his watch and practically jumped up from the table, "Sunset is in less than an hour! We need to go." He went up to the front counter and paid David for their food. David gave a Mimmi a small go-get-him wink.

They, once again, climbed into Chris' car and he raced a few miles up the coast and pulled over on the side of the road near a secluded stretch of beach. Chris clamored over to open the car door for Mimmi, "Is this alright?"

Mimmi looked at the beach that was in front of them, there was pure white sand and crystal blue water. The sinking sun on the horizon reflected and glittered off the water. On the left, a cliff towered up above the waves and a few other rocks stuck up in the sand. She smiled over at her companion, "It's perfect."

They walked side by side, and removed their shoes to walk barefoot in the warm sand. Chris walked by the water's edge but Mimmi kept her distance. Eventually, they fell into step and Chris' fingers lightly intertwined with Mimmi's. She looked down at their interlocked fingers and couldn't tell which ones belonged to who.

He found a sand dune to sit on to watch the sun sink below the horizon. Mimmi took a seat next to him, and slowly positioned herself closer to him. A cool wind blew in over the ocean, making goose bumps raise up on Mimmi's arms.

"Oh, are you cold?" Chris asked with growing concern.

"Just a little," Mimmi replied, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

Chris reached out and out his arm around Mimmi, pulling her closer so that her head rested comfortably on his chest. His fingers traced light figure-eights on her arms, sending chills down her spine. Mimmi buried her head deeper into Chris' chest, inhaling his scent. With the smell of his cologne mixed with the sea air around her and she got an overwhelming sense of feeling at home.

Soon the sun sank beneath the horizon and crickets were chirping peacefully in the distance, but it was still a while before either of them dared to move. They had both waited so long for the day that they were to be reunited that now it almost felt like a dream. It was Mimmi who finally lifted her head and softly said, "We should start getting back. The others might start to worry about me."

Chris understood and helped Mimmi to her feet, the two retrieved their shoes which were lying in the now cool sand and got back into the car. With directions from Mimmi, Chris was able to locate Rita's house which was not too far away.

As Chris pulled down the driveway, Mimmi gathered her bag and the snow globe that had been gifted to her that morning. They walked to the front doorstep hand-in-hand and Chris was about to kiss Mimmi goodnight when she suggested that he come inside to meet everyone.

Chris felt that it was only right to finally meet Mimmi's family after hearing so much about them. Mimmi turned the key in the lock and pushed through the front door, they were met with a cacophony of excited chatter coming from the living room. Rita, Zac, Evie, Cam, David, Sirena, Ondina and Weilan were all sitting in the living room, but all conversation quickly died out as their eyes fell upon Chris.

Introductions were made (with a little overprotectiveness from Zac) but the group seemed to happily welcome Chris. He told them all that he was glad to have finally met them but he did need to start heading home as it was getting late and he began work that next morning.

That's when time slowed down.

Mimmi got up to hug him goodbye and thank him for the wonderful day that they had spent together but as she pulled away the snow globe that Mimmi still held was knocked out of her hands. The globe seemed to tumble from her hands in slow motion until it finally smashed into the hardwood floor, sending water and shattered glass all over the pair's feet and legs.

For a moment, everyone froze. Mimmi wanted to run but knew that it was too late, she didn't have time to even make it out of the room before time was up, let alone hide. Everyone in the room, except for Chris, knew what would happen in the seconds to come and they all waited with baited breath.

Then, Mimmi toppled to the floor as she no longer had legs to hold her up, and was exposed as a mermaid.

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 **Hope you all enjoyed this update! Like, Follow and Review for more! I can't wait to hear what you all think!**


	15. Chapter 14

Chris blinked.

Then he blinked again.

But she was still there. Mimmi was still on the floor with a tail.

Chris looked around the room to the others, when he realized that none of them were looking at Mimmi, all eyes were trained on him, testing his reaction. It took him a minute to find his throat so he could clear his voice and finally look at Mimmi and say, "What are you?"

Mimmi looked as if she had been slapped across the face, a tear streaked down across her cheek. One of the girls, Ondina as Chris recalled, rushed over to her friend's side and began to pat her lower half dry with a towel. Rita made her way across the room, and guided Chris towards the couch, "It seems that a chat is in order." She said calmly.

Chris scoffed in response, sounding rude even to himself. At the time, he was unable to think before he could act because his mind was racing at a million miles per minute. There was a _whoosh_ that swept over the room and from the corner of his eye, Chris could see that Mimmi was on her feet once again. She made her way over to a chair in the back corner of the living room, avoiding all eye contact with him but he was sure that there were still tears glistening in her eyes.

No one was paying much attention to Mimmi, except for Ondina, everyone's eyes were still glued to Chris. It was as if they, at any second, expected him to jump up and started running through the streets, yelling about what he had just seen.

"Chris," Rita began, "Have you heard the stories about the mermaids that protect the bay?"

He looked over at his principle, any local knew the story. Their most famous tourist attraction her, aside from the beaches, was the legendary but elusive mermaids that were said to live out by Mako Island and hadn't been seen for centuries. But anybody could be smart enough to realize that the stories were made up to attract visitors.

Rita continued, "We are those mermaids."

Chris was about to retort on the impossibility of the situation but after what he had just seen, how could he deny it? He had just watched a girl's legs stitch themselves into a tail. No amount of special effects of mirrors could achieve a deception so life-like. He thought over what Rita had just told him, "You said 'we.'"

Rita nodded slowly, "Yes, we."

Chris looked at the group before them, and suddenly they weren't so interested in looking back. He especially looked at Zac, Cam, and David, whom he had shared a class with since the seventh grade. "And you three?"

Cam looked at the two others, who nodded to give him approval, and then spoke for the group, "We're mermen."

Once again, Chris only found himself able to blink. The world spun around him and reality warped into something unrecognizable. These people who he had known for most of his life, were not even human. He looked at the others, and come to the realization at none of them were human. In fact, he was the only one in this room that was human.

"We weren't always like this," Cam rushed out before he could stop himself, "Evie, David and I used to be humans but we ended up in the right place at the right time. Zac thought he was human, but it turns out that he was born a merman and is Mimmi's twin sister. And the others are mermaids from birth out at sea with their pod."

For the first time, Chris dared to look over at Mimmi. The could each read the helpless expressions on each other's faces; Mimmi's fear of having her most precious secret uncovered and Chris having so much impossible seeming information to take in. He knew in that moment, that the only person that he wanted to be with right now was Mimmi, as crazy, weird and even scary as this all was for him, Chris needed Mimmi to know that her secret was safe with him and that she could trust him no matter what.

Chris cleared his throat and spoke, "Can I talk to Mimmi, privately please."

She searched his face with new fear shining in her eyes, and desperately looked over at Ondina, pleading to not be left alone. Slowly, she stood up from the chair he was sitting in and Chris caught himself staring down at her legs. His gaze quickly darted somewhere else.

Mimmi sniffled as Chris followed her out of the room. As they retreated, the remaining merpeople in the living room looked around at each other, wondering how a happy occasion could have so quickly gone bad.

Cam was the first among them to speak, "Can I just point out that he's been exposed to quite a bit of magic just now."

All of the merpeople sitting around the living room paled slightly.

"You don't think…" Ondina trailed off, unable to complete her thought.

Rita picked up where she left off, "Yes unfortunately, I think that Cameron is right." The group exchanged nervous glances, not knowing how to break it to both Chris or Mimmi. It was one thing to discover that the world of mermaids and magic was real but it was another to find out that you were going to become apart of that world. Cam and David, at some points, both secretly or not so secretly wanted a life like the others. They had time to discover the secret, learn the ins and outs of magic and then become a part of it. Chris was literally jumping in feet first, with no escape.

"We'll have to protect him," Cam piped up after the long pause of silence.

"That's right," David agreed, "We can't let this happen to anyone else against their wills. It is time that we fight back. This ends this full moon."

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 **Okay okay, I'm sorry. I know I haven't been uploading for a while and I know that this chapter is really short. Honestly, I've had this chapter written for a long time but I wasn't 100% happy with it for a while. Hopefully you'll be seeing a little more of me.**

 **Like and leave a review let me know what you think! You can also check out my other Mako Mermaids stories. Love you guys!**


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